7/19/10

mowed the grass (more work than it’s worth!) :-)
jogged for 10 minutes and weights

See more progress on: exercise every day this week

7/20/10 happiness is...

no surprises at my dental checkup!
completing some tasks (even if they’re small ones)
change of pace in the day with a conference that’s on campus

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

7/19/10 happiness is

sitting outside in the quiet this morning drinking coffee taking in the sounds and sights of the world awakening.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

7/18/10 happiness is

brainstorming and creating plans for our backyard with ann

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

7/17/10 happiness is...

watching my two boys (7 and 2) playing together right now and laughing together chasing each other around the house, though the noise might drive everyone crazy!

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

7/17/10 spending time with my boys

one of my favorite moments with my little guy is when i come home from work. he always says, “Hi! DAD!” like it’s the most surprising, wonderful thing to encounter me coming in the door. he’ll run right up and give a hug as if he hasn’t seen you in months.

last night my seven year old wanted me to build legos with him. i really wanted to read, and did for a while, but he kept pestering me about it and i was feeling guilty. once i went to build with him, he came alive and we had fun. even though i wanted to read more than i wanted to build legos (even though i like that too), i saw that he just wanted to spend time together and that makes me smile. while i don’t want to cease to exist as my own person and just become an entertainment robot for my kids, i do want to cherish the time we can spend together and appreciate the time they want to spend with me.

See more progress on: spend time with my sons each day

716/10 on reading

not sure how purists would feel about this, but i’m going to count listening to audiobooks in my goal of reading some each day. just started listening to michael pollan’s book second nature: a gardener’s education. i LOVE it. he’s such a great writer and i find myself smiling so often after delightful images he’s creating or delicious turns of phrases. so far i’m only listening in little chunks to and from work, but i keep finding myself thinking, “i should buy the book format of this so i can go back through and highlight all these wonderful things i love about this book and revisit them (easier than in the audiobook version).” that might just be my obsessive book hoarding psyche speaking though.

See more progress on: read some each day

7/16/10 being intentional

one of the ways i want to be more intentional is to record my thoughts more regularly about the things that are important to me and goals that i have, being more aware of what i’m doing and how i’m doing. rereading older entries on my goals and “things i’m doing,” i realize there are rich memories that would otherwise be forgotten to cherish, to revisit, by which to be inspired and by which to be revitalized.

See more progress on: be more intentional with my time

7/16/10 my boys

during the school year, my time with the boys in the morning is usually frantic and fast paced trying to get everyone out the door and fed, etc. even though i work in the summer, i like the subtle shift in the little bit of time we have together in the mornings since they and ann (who teaches school) don’t have to race out the door (and since my “racing” is a little slower than other times a year!). this morning i enjoyed actually sitting down at the table with ann and our little one eating breakfast and listening to max talk and be cheerful (though when ann vetoed his post breakfast plan of hitting a soccer ball around the house with a badminton racket, he was not so cheerful!). in the little bit of time when we were all together and before i left for work, i smiled about carter, our seven year old and how he did several chores without being asked, how he helped his little brother and how i watched him sitting outside at our new patio table, just soaking in the world around him. i have two wonderful boys and an amazing wife. i’m one to avoid overused phrases that get batted around with little meaning or understanding, like the phrase, “i’m so blessed,” but i’m letting that phrase sit in my head and repeat itself until i’ve explored every angle, corner, meaning, that could be in there, because in some deep and rich way, i truly believe that i am.

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Untitled

started listening to david allen’s audiobook version of Getting Things Done. seems like lots of great ideas for getting organized and reducing the stress that comes from trying to keep up with everything you’re doing in your head or in a variety of systems that aren’t integrated.

See more progress on: learn about GTD and apply it to my life

7/16/10 happiness is...

eating breakfast with my family
watching my youngest son’s excitement at each new day
watching my oldest son sitting outside quietly taking in the world and admiring a new piece of art he created
my first image in the morning being my beautiful wife
realizing i’m making good progress on my weight loss goal

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

exercise every day this week...

wow…i haven’t written anything about this goal in TWO YEARS! it hasn’t been that long without, but it’s been pretty barren. recent vacation that included white water rafting and climbing two fourteeners has inspired me to get back on the wagon. so far this week has been good, but need to keep it up.

See more progress on: exercise every day this week

achieving inbox zero

not sure why, but it’s easy for me to achieve inbox “ten or less” but for some reason just can’t finish the job! ????

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7/15/10 being more intentional

as in leaving work right now to be with my beautiful wife and two great boys!

See more progress on: be more intentional with my time

7/15/10 spending time with my boys

recent moments that make me smile…
sitting in the dark on our patio with our seven year old (and his beautiful mom) looking at the stars and just talking about all kinds of things like how whales can hear really low pitches and dogs can hear really high pitches that we can’t.

eating breakfast with my little one while the rest of the family is asleep

See more progress on: spend time with my sons each day

7/15/10 happiness is...

sitting down to write to my beloved about the things i love about her

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year